About Professional Competence

Under arrangement with the Irish Medical Council, the Irish College of GPs operates a Professional Competence Scheme (PCS) to support and assist registered medical practitioners with enrolling on a Scheme and meeting the annual Scheme requirements. The Irish College of GPs also has a role in accrediting CPD activities, handling complaints and appeals, and ensuring effective management processes are in place for the ongoing operation of the PCS.

When completing their annual retention of registration with the Medical Council, doctors are required to declare that they are maintaining their professional competence. The declarations cover the preceding and current scheme years and will include one of the following

• That the annual minimum CPD requirements for the PCS year have been met and recorded
• That the doctor did not practice for a period of greater than 3 months in the PCS year due to illness, maternity, parental, carers, or other forms of statutory leave
• That the doctor practised medicine in the Republic of Ireland for less than 30 days during the previous PCS year and has complied with the CPD requirements in the other state in which they practised medicine
• That the doctor is on the trainee specialist division or visiting EEA practitioners’ register and therefore is not required to enrol on a Professional Competence Scheme.

All Postgraduate Medical Training Bodies will be required to forward the Medical Council Registration Number (MCRN) and name of all registered medical practitioners who have not met their annual PCS requirements for the previous PCS year to the Medical Council.

Please be aware that a false declaration on your retention of registration form could leave you open to a complaint by the Medical Council.

What do I need to do?

Please ensure that you have recorded all your CPD activity to your ePortfolio before 30 April. All doctors registered on the Specialist or General Division of the Medical Council for the duration of the current year will be expected to record the minimum requirements as outlined here. Where you have been on statutory leave from active practice for three months or more, Contact Us and we will note this on your record for you.

Where can I find further information?

Find further information on the Medical Council website

It is the responsibility of each registered medical practitioner to maintain their professional competence in line with the standards of good professional practice. The standards do not define a curriculum for registered medical practitioners to pursue. Maintenance of professional competence is unique for every registered medical practitioner. The Framework is designed to be flexible, so that it can be tailored to individual practice and professional development needs.

Standard 1 – Good professional practice

The doctor maintains professional competence to achieve the outcome of good professional practice, which contributes to patient safety and quality of patient care.

Standard 2 – Planned on assessed needs

The doctor plans the maintenance of professional competence based on current patient, practice and health system needs as well as anticipated future developments.

Standard 3 – Diverse and relevant practice-based activities

The doctor is responsible for maintaining professional competence through a diverse range of self-directed and practice-based activities relevant to assessed needs to achieve targets set out in Council's Framework for Maintenance of Professional Competence Activities.

Standard 4 – Reflection and action

The doctor reflects on activity to maintain professional competence and takes action to ensure good professional practice that contributes to patient safety and quality of patient care.

Standard 5 – Documented and demonstrable

The doctor collects and documents evidence to demonstrate the maintenance of professional competence. 

Your annual PCS fee of €240 covers systems and services to support and assist you in maintaining your professional competence. These include:

• PCS Helpdesk (receiving circa 4,000 queries annually)
• Guidelines, FAQs, newsletters and other communications
• Online ePortfolio and enrolment system
• Supports tools and assistance 
• Annual statements of participation
• Verification process
• CPDR Attendance Codes
• Accreditation of CPD activity from other providers
• Liaison with Medical Council on behalf of enrolees 

Professional Competence Schemes are designed to promote self-directed and practice-based learning activities rather than supervised training. As well as promoting personal professional development the Schemes aim to promote activities that maintain and develop the competencies (e.g. professionalism, knowledge, skills and attitudes of the individual practitioner), which are essential for meeting the changing needs of patients and the healthcare delivery system. The Schemes also encourage participants to plan, record and reflect on professional development needs, as part of their pursuit for lifelong learning.

Source: Medical Council

The Irish College of GPs is required by the Medical Council to verify the activity recorded by a sample of enrolees on an annual basis. This is a supportive process to help enrolees identify where they may have gaps in their evidence or if they have recorded an activity incorrectly. Enrolees who have been selected are notified of this process in advance. Aggregated data is reported to the Medical Council in our annual reports.
During the verification process, the Irish College of GPs will be looking to see that the doctor has:

• The minimum number of CPD credits recorded to their ePortfolio
• Sufficient credits recorded in each of the required categories, including the Practice Review
• Evidence to support the recorded activity

All doctors selected for verification will be notified in advance by email and/or letter/phone call to allow them time to ensure their professional competence portfolio records are up to date.
If you are selected, please remember that there are advantages. You can find out if you have been recording activity correctly and if you have been providing appropriate evidence so that you can make any necessary changes. Also, if you are successfully verified, you will be removed from the selection pool for the following five years. 

For more information, please download our Guide to the Verification Process (PDF, 242KB)

All doctors registered on the general or specialist divisions of the Irish Medical Council must enrol on a professional competence scheme (PCS). When you are completing your annual retention of registration for the Medical Council, you will be asked to provide the name of the PCS you are enrolled with and the date you enrolled on the current year of the PCS.

Under Medical Council guidelines, doctors must enrol in a Scheme within 60 days of the start of the PCS year on 1 May each year (30 June). Those who have established a direct debit will be automatically re-enrolled each year; otherwise please look out for the opening of the new year enrolment in early May.

If you would like to set up a direct debit to ensure automatic re-enrolment on PCS, please complete and return the combined Direct Debit Mandate Form which allows you to establish a direct debit for membership fees, PCS fees, or both.

If you are currently a trainee, you do not need to enrol on a PCS, however you will need to do so within 60 days of joining the Specialist Register.

As long as your registration with the Medical Council is active you will need to continue to enrol on PCS and meet the yearly requirements even if you have retired from practice.

Learn more about PCS as a retired doctor here.